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The two hostages found dead in Iraq may not have been murdered, it emerged today.
The bodies of security guards Jason Creswell and Jason Swindlehurst are undergoing forensic examination after they were handed over to British authorities in Baghdad on Friday.
It was originally thought they had been killed while in captivity but it now appears they may have died from natural causes due to the terrible conditions in which they were kept.
A source in Iraq said: It is possible that these two men were not killed by insurgents but died in other ways, from disease or mistreatment. But the men that abducted them should still shoulder responsibility for their deaths.
Mr Creswell, 39, originally from Glasgow, and Mr Swindlehurst, 38, from Skelmersdale, Lancashire, were among a group of five Britons kidnapped in Baghdad in May 2007.
IT consultant Peter Moore, 35, from Lincoln, is one of the other three men still missing. His mother, Avril Sweeney, told yesterday of her relief that her son's body was not one of the dead. But she spoke of her sadness for Mr Creswell and Mr Swindlehurst's families: I couldn't describe what they are going through, she said.
Reader views (1)
They died while in the custody of kidnappers. Responibility for their deaths is unchanged.
- Rogan, Irving, 25/06/2009 00:45
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